Tammy's WRIT340 Blog

  I have been enjoying American Like Me so far, I like reading about the different experiences of each author  growing up in an immigrant household. As an international student, I appreciate the diversity here but I often forget about the history of the immigration of different racial and ethnic groups that make up today’s  population. Reading about the different author’s experiences provides a new perspective that isn’t talked  about enough. I may not be able to relate to these stories on the immigrant aspect but I can relate to them  on some cultural aspects.   The most memorable chapter for me was Joy Cho’s, a daughter of Thai immigrants. I was surprised to see  Thai representation in the book since we’re a small minority in the United States. I have some shared  experiences with the author such as my parents ordering a side of white rice with anything whether it’s fried  chicken or even steak. I also liked how her chapter was no...

Thai Food in America Pad Thai, mango sticky rice, tom yum - you have probably heard of these popular Thai dishes, or have  even tasted it yourself. Over the past few decades, Thai food has gained traction all over the world,  especially here in Los Angeles, home to the world’s first ever Thai Town. The three aforementioned  dishes all originate from the central region of Thailand. However, being in Los Angeles means access  to food from all four regions of the country. If you want a refreshing plate of papaya salad, you can head  over to Isaan Station in Koreatown. If you want a kick of spice and burst of flavour, you can head to  Luv2Eat on Sunset Boulevard for some southern Thai food.  Although LA is the hot spot for Thai restaurants in the US, Thai restaurants can be found all over the  country. Today, there are as many Thai restaurants as there are Walmarts in the United States. To get  a better understanding of the abundance in Thai res...

The book I chose was American Like Me by America Ferrera, a collection of essays written by first generation Americans. I chose this book because Professor Hansen said this book has been the most popular option among students. Another reason is that the chapters are independent of each other. As someone who has not finished a book cover to cover in two years, I felt that this book would be an easier transition back into reading. This has proven to be true thus far, I find myself picking out and reading a few chapters in my free time without having to remind myself of what happened in the previous chapter.  My favourite chapter so far is Jenny Zhang’s where she talked about her family’s admiration of Sizzler - the embodiment of “ the very essence of America ”. Sizzler was the only American food her family enjoyed and a big part of that comes from the value. Her family believed that they could get their money’s worth by eating until they felt like puking. I saw some parallels between...

Job Description - (Former) Tour Guide  “Hi everyone, my name is Tammy! I am currently a first-year student studying quantitative sciences on  the pre-business track and a minor in Chinese.” Note that I said, “first year” and not freshman because  the latter is not gender neutral. If my supervisor was there, he would have deducted points for forgetting  to state my pronouns. My first ever job was being an unpaid tour guide at my previous university.  Despite working for the admissions office, ironically, I have since transferred colleges.  I often use this as a fun fact, people are usually surprised to learn that I used to be a tour guide. I don’t  have the typical cheerful and bubbly tour guide traits, nor do I have strong school spirit. These people  weren’t wrong. I only wore the tour guide polo because that was the only University merchandise I  owned. So, what is a tour guide? Any college student has dealt with tour guides at some point...